The Orange What?

I don’t have children, but my favorite times of the year are school vacations. Why? Because they result in far fewer cars on the road during my commute. As a North Shore resident, that’s pure gold.

In February, the latest Global Traffic Scorecard from transportation analytics firm INRIX ranked Boston as the most congested city in the United States during peak commuting times. The most congested! More than Los Angeles! More than New York! That’s not a superlative any of us who work in Boston are happy to claim.

The report concluded that Boston commuters lost 164 hours in rush-hour traffic on average last year; that’s above what their normal commutes would have been without the traffic.

What would you do with an extra 164 hours? Besides the obvious ‘sleep’, soooo much could be accomplished. People would have more time to do things that often get pushed to the bottom of their prioritized To Do lists: exercise, spend more time preparing healthy meals, connect with family, read an actual book, take a class, catch up on work, join a club, pick up a hobby, go out with friends twice a week (that’s another report I read this week that will apparently help me live longer; I barely even see my husband twice a week, let alone have dinner and drinks with girlfriends 2x). And did I mention sleep?

But, since I live outside of the city and not near convenient public transportation options, I must drive in. So like it or not, I’m losing those hours. Short of lifting free weights in my car, bringing my friends along on my commute, or napping through my drive (when are those self-driving cars coming to Boston?), the only thing I’ve been able to do from the above list is read. Before you worry about being behind me on Route 1, I’m not reading an actual book. I’m listening to them on CD, which does help pass the time. (I’m currently on the last CD of Tell No One by Harlan Coben – it’s a nail biter!) I do often join conference calls, which can be helpful unless I need to take notes or look at anything online. And the bad drive can be an excuse when I’m still at the office late at night, making a quick text to the hubby “In traffic” more than believable.

Unless or until things change with the traffic situation, I’ll continue to take book suggestions (please add to blog comments!) and chat with friends and family on the phone (just ordered new wireless ear buds). And whenever the traffic reporter calmly announces with all the seriousness in the world, “The backup starts at the orange dinosaur,” I’ll smile to myself and think, “Only in Boston.”